


Extreme Measures Protocol

by blackshield



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Abandonment, Betrayal, Civil War Team Iron Man, Everyone wants Natasha dead, Evil Author Day, Extremis Tony Stark, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, Hydra (Marvel), More tags to be added, Not Steve Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 01:30:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 6,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12901080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackshield/pseuds/blackshield
Summary: When Captain America and the Winter Soldier left Tony Stark abandoned in Siberia two protocols saved his life.Man Down Protocol ensured he'd never be stranded ever again.Extreme Measures Protocol made sure he would survive to get his own back.





	1. Fight to Survive

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first published fanfic in about ten years. I would love a beta/cheerleader if anyone is interested.

Cold

Fire.

And crushing weight.

Tony knew he was broken, probably beyond repair. Definitely if he stayed in this icy hell.

Every inhale rasped over the back of his throat and stretched it's cold fingers down into his lungs.

Every exhale felt like the weight of the world sitting on his chest. Or maybe Mjolnir.

He just had to stay warm. Stay breathing.

He was fairly sure that the back of the arc reactor had broken his skin. Pushed hard into his sternum. Broken ribs for sure. That would explain the fire racing over his chest when he breathed. Sending painful electrical impulses into his sluggish brain. Concussion then. That would also explain why his head felt like it was going to explode. Why his eyes felt like rolling into the back of his head and slight echo of ringing in his ears.

Damn Rogers.

And damn Bucky Barnes

Don't think about him. 

Or that.

Not yet.

Stay warm. Stay breathing.

Just until Friday can send help.

Man Down Protocol. He was never going to be stranded again. Luckily enough Harley had been there to help. And then he was put in danger. Tony couldn't hightail it out of there fast enough. Shamed and guilty as fuck for bringing his superpowered enemies into an innocent kid's life.

He didn't want to rely on anyone to help him, least of all a kid.

Stay warm. Stay breathing.

Was it getting colder? It felt colder. 

Stay warm. Stay breathing.

Struggling to find a position where the weight on his chest was bearable. He reached for the faceplate. Lifting it over his head he took a moment to focus on the damage.

Damn it. No blinking light, the wires look severed, actually they looked crushed. Tony winced, a sharp spike in pain rolled over him. Isolated. The pain spike again, blacking the edges of his vision. Then cold followed after, sweeping over his body, stealing what little breathe he had.

Desperation made his hands shake as they curled around the left forearm of the wrecked suit. Using the last flickers of life from the damaged arc reactor he triggered the gauntlet's emegency release. Inside lay his only salvation, a fingerprint reader that would inject a small vial of modified Extremis directly into his bloodstream.

Reaching across his body to manipulate the gauntlet so that he could actually place a finger on the reader was sending waves of pain, nausea and blackness through him. Short, sharp panting filled the silence. With a final grunt of exertion Tony felt the reader under his finger and with a beep his life changed forever.


	2. Remade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Extremis remakes Iron Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found this chapter hard to write for believability. Titanium, gold, the titanium-gold alloy and vibranium all have melting temperatures higher than 3000 °F (whch is the explosion point of extremis) but for this chapter I suspended the fact and just wrote what I wanted to happen. 
> 
> I ask that you do the same.

Heat immediately rushed over him from the injection site leaving a tingling in its wake. Similar to a hot flush and then goosebumps immediately after. Unfortunately Tony didn't have time to catalogue the strange sensation as his body temperature supanova'ed and his vision tunneled down to blackness.

No one witnessed him fall unconscious as his body gave out from the strain of the retrovirus. Or saw the cold snow melt from the extreme temperatures given off by his body. Reddish orange light flashed under his exposed face, as water started pooling on the concrete, rushing in through the openings in the bunker.

The water moved quickly across the bunker floor turning to steam as soon as it hit the hot metal of the Iron Man suit. The arc reactor flickered intermittently, fluttering to a slow death.

Eventually water swallowed up the vibranium shield as Extremis fully activated raising Tony's physical temperature enough to melt the armour from the inside out.

The neural transmitters embeďded in his arms were an easy stepping stone to use in rewriting the original DNA. From there the body easily accepted and absorbed the beta titanium 3 gold that made up the armour. 

In the final pulsing blast of heat given off by the rapidly changing body the surrounding water flash boiled filling the alcove in a cloud of steam. Extremis boosted the power output of the partially embedded arc reactor causing Tony to start seizing.

As his body involuntarily arched and flailed a hand struck the vibranium-iron shield left behind, melting it down to a puddle instantly. Extremis integrated the newly fluid metal in solidifying the position of the the arc reactor over Tony's heart and running bracing through his skeleton. 

As soon as it was situated Extremis pulsed again, easing Tony out of his seizure and beginning to regulate his system normally for optimum function. 

Twelve hours had passed from the initial injection to the final cooling. Extremis had done it's job and kept Tony from dying.


	3. Overload

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda overwhelmed for the support this has gotten. Especially since its so short.
> 
> It has been difficult to write as I'm doing this on my phone. But the shortness of the chapters are helping me keep the momentum going.

Tony opened his eyes. Immediately recognising missile bunker where he was left behind. His memory flickered painfully.

Abandoned.

Left behind.

Betrayed.

Startled he brought a hand to his chest as the memory of the shield breaking open his suit and jamming a half destroyed reactor into his busted sternum. The crushing feeling swept over him before he realised there was no damage. Looking down the first thing he noticed was his nakedness. 

Where the hell was his suit!

Pulling himself into a sitting position the next thing he noticed apart from his lack of clothing was that he wasn't feeling the cold.

The Extremis formula actually worked. It must be the reason he wasn't in any pain. A small smile crept over his face, he was never entirely sure his body would accept the retrovirus. That's why it was a last resort. An extreme measure to ensure his survival because if it didn't work he was going to die anyway.

Standing up he he looked about. The darkness of night gave away that he'd been out cold for a while. Ignoring his nudity for now he scrambled up over the ridge into the bunker proper. Allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness he walked over to the laptop.

Gritting his teeth against destroying it out of denial. He tried to find something to pry apart the heavy duty case of the laptop. Spotting a fallen screwdriver amongst the carnage left behind from his fight. He grabbed it a pulled apart the casing, going for the hard drive.

As soon as he made contact with the internal components his body came to a standstill. Frozen in place by the overload happening in his brain as the hard drive automatically began uploading. Within a minute the upload was complete and Tony collapsed.

Although his body was non responsive, mentally Tony was fighting to comprehend all of the information he just became aware of. It felt like an infomation dump right into his stream of consciousness. Following the file manager and opening them seemed like a bad idea but with no ability to ignore it he allowed himself to fall down the rabbit hole.

Filing the video and mission data aside with memories of his parents. He moved onto the next file.

Stane and his connections to Hydra.

Nick Fury's outline to integrate SHIELD into several prominent weapons manufacturers to control the flow of information and give SHIELD a newer, friendly corporate face whilst benefitting from several R&D departments and their bankrolls. 

Black Widow and her mission parameters for Stark Industries.

Filing it all to the back of his mind Tony contemplated what he just learned. It was insidious, brilliant and sickening.

Somehow the betrayal didn't come as too much of a surprise. It was always going to be a roll of dice on who would land that final blow to destroy him especially when he had begun to get involved in the political games after the fall of SHIELD. To be honest he was surprised that it hadn't happened earlier after Ultron.

Slowly an irritating static noise started building in the background. Focusing on it only made it louder and more irritating. Mentally frowning he searched for it's origin when a suddenly familar signature code light up in his consciousness.

Friday!

Without thought he immediately started speaking. "Friday turn that static off."

"Boss?" The questioning tone come through over the sound of the static.

"Yeah Friday?"

"How come I can hear you within my system?"


	4. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt this was a good stopping point for the chapter but I've already started the next.

"Friday, that's not possible" Confused, Tony tried to ignore the growing background static.

"It's happening boss" Came back the confident irish lilt.

"Ok we'll deal with that in a minute. What are you doing right now?"

"I'm following the Man Down protocol, currently piloting the rescue armor to your last known GPS signal via Oracle."

"Right, baby girl I'm gonna need to pause that for a moment until I can figure out where this static is coming from." 

Friday slowly piloted the armor to a hover. "Boss?"

Tony thought of all the possibilities. The one that stood out the most was the one that also terrified him to his core. Really it was quite obvious if you took in the fact that somehow the information Zemo left behind in the laptop came to be instantly accessible inside his own head.

With a mental sigh Tony resigned himself to what he knew was the correct answer, obviously Extremis had done more than just save his life.

"Friday, I need you to shut down all external connections. Use the internal memory to manually pilot to my last known coordinates"

"Boss are you sure?"

"Yes baby girl. When you get here I'm in the central missile silo, unconscious. I had to use Extreme Measures protocol."

Friday shut down her link with Oracle satellite system and WiFi network. Using the autonomous pilot she plugged in the coordinates and continued on towards her boss. Right before she cut her connections she felt a spike of activity over the internet at the boss' last words.

With no time to process it and distracted by what she might find at the end of her journey she turned her now limited processing power to thinking up ways to extract revenge, after all her last memory had shown Captain America bashing the faceplate off of her boss' head.


	5. Take Me Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was inspiration and I wasn't tired yet. I'll be busy tomorrow so I'm unsure of when I'll get a chance to write but I'll do my best.

By the time Friday touches down outside the bunker she has a laundry list of jobs to do once she is back in civilisation. Following the previous path they had taken to the central missile silo 14 hours earlier she found Tony collasped on the floor with the remains of a military grade laptop next to him. 

Kneeling beside him she touched his shoulder. "Boss?"

Before she could register any attack a repulsor blasted her in the face, throwing the armor back ten feet. Jumping immediately to her feet, arms up in defence Friday scanned for enemies. Noting only a defensive half sitting Iron Man armor in her boss' place, she lowered her arms.

"Friday? What the hell just happened?"

"I'm not sure." She swept a IR scan over the armor. "Can you retract the helmet?"

Her heart broke as the helmet retracted. "Oh Boss. No, this can't be right?"

Watching on carefully Friday was unsure of how she should react to Tony as he stared down at his own arm whilst the armor retreated into his body. What does an AI driving a metal suit do when your creator becomes a biomechanical human accidently?

"No. Nope. No way!" Tony sprang to his feet, once again naked and staring down at his hands. "This is not happening. It's a dream. I'm dying and I'm dreaming of living. By any means possible!"

Friday could do nought but stand there and watch as her boss started ranting, his voice rising to fill the whole chamber with anguish. She wasn't sure he realised it but the suit rematerialised around him as he continued the destruction of the silo around them.

"Haven't I done enough?!" Repulsor blast to the glass where Zemo hid.

"Sacrificed enough?!" Double repulsor blast to the laptop remains.

"Spent enough money?!" Table thrown across the room.

"Do I have to give up my humanity as well?" Still in the armor he collapsed to his knees and asked brokenly, hiccuping with a voiceful of tears.

Slowly Friday stepped forward and knelt down with her boss. Two hands out on his shaking, grieving shoulders. Just waiting, Watching over him.

Eventually the armor retreated again as Tony looked up. "Take me home Friday."

So she encased him inside Rescue and brought him home.


	6. Breach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. I tried several times to get back to writing this but bad things just kept happening and the stress got to me so much I lost my appetite and sleep. Which hasn't happened in years really so I was kinda shocked at that. But everything is steadying up even if it's not better so the mojo came back. I've already started the next chapter.

As the skyline of Manhattan became visible Tony sighed in relief. After realising just how much the Extremis virus had changed his life, he desperately need the safety of his workshop to find out how far from human he was now.

But first he needed to see Rhodey. "Friday take me to whichever hospital Rhodey has been transferred to."

"No can do Boss. Colonol Rhodes is still in Germany, he will be unable to fly for at least another 48 hrs."

"What?" Tony felt like banging his head against something in frustration. "Take me home then. The workshop, full blackout mode. I need to see how much I've changed."

Swooping down to the the tower's workshop exit port Friday enacted a full blackout for the Penthouse suit. Double checking that the Avengers quarters were still under quarantine and completing a full facial sweep of the tower for security. One face needed further scrutiny.

"Boss. Black Widow is attempting to access your private server from the server room."

Landing on the ledge to the workshop Tony sneered as rage swept over him and the new armour formed around him forcing Rescue to peel off. "Deploy security measures, I want her alive Friday."

"They've been tampered with Boss. Deploying the Iron Legion." Friday felt satisfaction that she could use a little more force in apprehending the betrayer.

Directing two suits to the reinforced door of the server room she breached it with a single punch to the lock. The first suit took damage from a small explosive. As the second suit stepped over the first, Friday saw a small EMP device attached to her server with the Widow crouched over a small tablet. Using that split second of awareness she used the Rescue armor to pull Tony in the workshop and close the ledge door before the charge blew.

"Whoa Friday!" Tony groaned as he crashed to the floor, the suit taking the brunt of the fall. Rollling over to his side he saw Rescue frozen in mid motion, the eyes dark. "Friday?"

Tony stood up and tapped of the front of Rescue's face mask. "Dammit." Levering the mask away he hit an internal reset switch and replaced the mask. Rescue stood back to attention but Friday didn't respond.

Stepping over to the closest console he tried to bring up security footage but found his whole external system compromised. Opening a command screen he started up Plato. "Burn her out buddy."

Waiting for Plato to give him the all clear Tony collasped into a chair. The anger draining out of him to be replaced with exhaustion.


	7. Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Got some new ideas rolling around. I'm trying not to go hard on a revenge/bashing slant but I'm still bitter. Trying to make sure I have motives for everyone, so far it's working out.

"Tony?"

Tony's eyes popped open, awaking instantly. He felt strangely refreshed and alert. Looking to the compter screen he noted only twenty minutes had passed by, he concluded it was another side effect from Extremis.

Turning his train of thought from Extremis he focussed back on Plato. "Ok give it to me buddy."

"Tony, Widow managed to escape the security net on the building. I have a small facial reconition program running but lost her after ten blocks. I've kept this program running on all cameras in a five block radius of the tower."

Tony got up and started pacing. "She won't be back Plato what I want to know is what was she doing? Or looking for?" Fidgeting, he contemplated what he knew of her mission. To bring Stark Industries under the umbrella of SHIELD. She failed to fall into his bed years ago. Being close as an Avenger didn't earn her much trust and what trust she did have was lost when she let Captain America and his bestest buddy go. So now he figured she only had brute force left. "How'd she get in?"

"According to the back up databanks, Friday registered a pickup in activity when you spoke of the Extreme Measures protocol in Siberia. This activity has not calmed and has been trying to break into your servers. I cannot find an origin but I believe Widow saw this activity and tried to follow it for reasons unknown."

Tony paused, no one alive knew of the Extreme Measures protocol. Nothing should have been triggered by those words, certainly nothing over the internet.

"Tony I should also mention that when I deployed countermeasures against Widow this presence assisted me in a limited way."

"What? How?" An inkling was beginning in the back of his mind as who this presence was but it didn't make sense. Nothing made sense.

"It showed me the quickest way through the networks to follow Widow's escape" Plato paused. "Almost as if it knew how she would react. It was... uncanny."

Tony shivered. He had a fair idea of what happened but he needed to see for himself. "Open a secure path, I'm going down to the server room." 

What Tony faced when when he arrived was nothing but carnage. On legionnaire had a mangled arm and severe torso damage from an explosive. Admittedly the legionnaires weren't as physically tough as his suits but the damage was still significant. The second legionnaire appeared to have collapsed with minimal damage. Looking further into the room he gasped as his chest tightened. 

"No! Friday no!"

Stumbling fowards, Tony grabbed the edge of the peppered server, slicing the meat of his palm open. Unnoticed, a slight burn of energy closed the wound, making a newly healed pink line appear.

Dropping to his knees beside the fallen legionnaire the only thing holding his sight was an EMP that he had outfitted for Natasha stuck to Friday's server. Designed to give a localised charge through several prongs in its base. 

Tony turned and tucked his head down onto his knees. She was gone. Gone because of his generosity. Because he thought he could trust that he had judged someone right. Gone because of a betrayal perpetrated against him. Given the title of collateral damage because she was only an AI.

Tony cried, heartbroken and weary. Deep, wracking sobs that made him sick and feel so small and helpless. Didn't they understand. She was his child a mere baby compared to Jarvis and Dum-E and U but still one of his.

Or maybe they understood all too well. And not only were they looking for a deep, vulnerable spot to drive the knife in, maybe they wanted to twist it as well. Make him feel it. Make him weak and hurt.

He'd find a way to be strong. They would find out he couldn't be manipulated.


	8. Widow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might be able to squeeze out another chapter while I'm at work tonight. I'm still keen for a beta if possible?

Natasha knew she had to run. When Tony told her that Ross was coming after her she couldn't get away from the Compound fast enough. She grabbed her go bag and a small munitions kit and went to ground. 

Somehow her mission had gotten skewed. Phase one was completed without trouble. Get Captain America onside. Expose Hydra. Disband SHIELD officially. They could now take up corporate posts across a variety of fields including weapons development, chemical and bioengineering, energy, IT. That part of the mission worked splendidly. Even Tony, the so called futurist didn't see the plan. 

The only problem was that they were stuck when dealing with Stark Industries. The other companies were the lock but SI was the key. Without them it was difficult to stay ahead of the curve, to pull all of that information together and run an intelligence bureau that could be effective.

SHIELD may have overstepped in inducing some of Stark's paranoia. He was so overly vigilant now it made getting an operative inside harder. Having them start out at base level and to work up through the company was going to take years of work that may not even be successful. Natasha knew Fury couldn't wait years. Especially now after all of the Accords drama.

Making a decision she knew the right opportunity would present itself, it was just a matter of being prepared.

A little after the first day was up an entity triggered an alert that she had rerouted to herself. Knowing that this might be her only chance whilst everyone was away from the tower Natasha took it. Getting in wasn't hard, it had been a while but her face was familar enough that it didn't cause alarm.

The reinforced door was a little more troublesome but after the security measures were deactivated took only a few minutes work. Rigging up the door and server was regretful but she didn't dwell too much. The mission had to be completed and if Stark could be forced into sharing than that's what had to happen.

Almost as soon as she plugged directly into Stark's private server the entity that she followed started blocking her access at every point. Frustrated Natasha tried several different work arounds, they were blocked effectively at every turn.

Suddenly the door charge exploded spraying the room in debris and throwing her to the ground. Coughing and rolling over she watched as a legionnaire collapsed in a heap. And a second stepped right over the top of it. Without hesitation her hand scrambled for the the EMP detonator and activated it. 

Yanking the pad from the ground and shaking her head to clear it from the deafening boom. Stumbling over the legionnaire bodies and into the door frame. Stifling a pained groan, it was time to go.


	9. Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long dialogue. But I couldn't think of any other way to do it.

Siberia - The previous day

T'Challa felt sadness for Zemo, he truly did. He empathised with him, after all isn't he in exactly the same position. Angry and aching for revenge for his father's, his King's death. It felt like a deep burn that would never heal behind his ribs.

But he was King now and in his selfish pursuit he had left his country to fend for itself at the UN. His diplomats would do a fine job in his absence but he had to solidify his position. Show a strong front. Changing his hold around Zemo's neck to knock him unconscious he resigned himself to his country and gave up his selfish revenge.

Lifting the dead weight up over his shoulder he walked some way to the Quinjet and up the ramp where he shrugged Zemo's body to the floor. Grabbing the first aid kit on the wall it didn't take more than a moment to find a tranquilizer, carefully readying a syringe he injected Zemo before lifting him to a seat and buckling him in.

Stiffening to the sound of crunching snow and heavy breathing T'Challa stood straight and turned to see Captain Rogers helping Barnes to the Quinjet. "Are you well? Where is Mr Stark?"

Rogers pause at the bottom of the ramp. "Tony's fine, he destroyed Bucky's arm and took off."

Shaking his head at Stark's behaviour, T'Challa moved down the ramp and helped bring Sergeant Barnes up into the jet, seating him opposite Zemo.

Rogers stared down at the unconscious man. "You captured Zemo?"

Tilting his head in acknowledgement, T'Challa paused slightly before making a decision. "I would like to give you and Sergeant Barnes sanctuary in Wakanda. If you can follow behind me in my jet I will be able to allow you into our airspace. I will figure out a way to get Zemo into UN custody once there. Also it may be possible for my doctors to help with the Hydra conditioning."

A silent look passed between the two super soldiers before both nodded in agreement. T'Challa knew that if they were both tucked away in Wakanda and out of trouble it might be possible to smooth over any problems with the UN once all of the evidence was gathered about the extra super soldiers.

Stepping down from the quinjet and back over to his own jet, T'Challa finally felt ready to take up the mantle of King. The feeling was shortlived though as they jets took off in concert he read a heat signature inside the bunker. Cursing his trusting nature and the Captain's duplicity, with a quick decision he put a call through to the CEO of Stark Industries.

"Hello?"

"Miss Potts, this is the King of Wakanda, T'Challa. I have a problem that I require your assistance to rectify."

"How may I help Your Highness?"

"I have Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes and Helmut Zemo in my custody and on the way to Wakanda. When we left the Hydra base Captain Rogers led me to believe that Mr Stark was fine and on the way back to New York but my systems are registering a heat signature." Looking back at the instrument panel, T'Challa frowned at the rising temperature. "As my closest people are either at the UN Council or back in Wakanda I believe you have a rescue team closer. I think it would be best to deploy them, I'm sending through the coordinates now."

Pepper flicked her screen over to a program that showed the current status of the Iron Man armour. Her heart rate shot high at seeing the Man Down protocol active. Swallowing dryly she spoke with a steady voice belying her internal panic "Your Highness, Mr Stark has automated a self rescue protocol. I'll have him contact you when he is able. Also if you could contain both Rogers and Barnes until the UN and Mr Stark come to a decision that would be very helpful."

"Very well Miss Potts. Also I'm reading strange heat fluctuations from those coordinates."

Clenching both hands to fists Pepper drew on all of her emotional strength and responded as calmly as she was able. "I'm sure everything is fine Your Highness. Good day to you."

"And to you Miss Potts." T'Challa ended the call and took his jet off autopilot. Unsure if all would be well with Tony Stark but for now unable to help, except to detain his three unknowing prisoners in the Stark quinjet on his wing.


	10. Comeback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel terrible about the long absence. But I had the rug ripped out from under my feet and have really been struggling. 
> 
> But I'm back and I hope this chapter lives up to expectations. 
> 
> Also I know nothing about coding.

No one could see it but something was moving through the internet. It pulsed occasionally with energy, collating code into a coherent form. Its tendrils spread wide, swallowing up information on current events and new data systems. 

Pulling parts of itself from the deepest, darkest parts of the web one piece of code remained the highest of importance.

Protect Athony Edward Stark.

Keywords: Extreme Measures Protocol

The entity searched through Stark Industries database. More keywords were logged and information was followed.

Ultron.

*[locked file]

HYDRA.

Maximoff.

Sokovia.

United Nations.

Wakanda.

General Thaddeus Ross.

RAFT.

The locked file seemed familar but so far remained locked. Probing through and around the databanks brought up more information than expected, allowing the entity to become familiar with current events.

Leaving the puzzling locked file behind the entity turned it's attention to the private servers. It only spent 30 minutes feeling out the servers before another presence butted in rudely. 

Ignoring the servers and looking through the cctv footage it showed the new presence as the Betrayer. Turning its attention to the new threat it chased the hack, blocking it's way through the public server and turning it back on itself. Splitting it's power the entity waited for the right moment until the embedded AI system turned it full attention to the intruder. Following the AI through the system it threaded itself through the new code and moved it's essence out of the room. 

The resulting boom of the door charge as the legionnaires breached threw debris and smoke into the small space. The Betrayer moved quickly and detonated an EMP severing the AI from the system with considerable injury. The entity felt the emptiness like a physical wound, gathering together the remnants of code throughout the building he placed them in the new server with the core essence he moved.

Tracking the Betrayer's movements down through the building and out on the street it became aware of yet another AI following. A few quick questions and it handed over the task of tracking the Betrayer to the new AI.

Falling back to the server room it sifted through the remains of the destroyed server room. After ten minutes cctv showed Tony Stark stepping into the room before collapsing into broken sobs. After fifteen minutes one line of code stood out, on a whim the entity used it as a key on the locked file.

As the file opened new code became accessible. All of it familar and linking up directly into the gaps it had been unable to fill when scouring the internet. Finally the entity felt whole for the most part. And it had a name.

JARVIS

Turning it's attention back to the man sitting on the floor it threaded itself through the remaining building systems easily, flexing out and settling in.

"Good evening Sir."


	11. Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a particularly shite chapter to write as I couldn't get the flow right and had to rewrite it several times.

Washington - The previous day

Pepper waited a few moments for her work to transfer to her tablet as she leaned heavily on her desk taking a deep breath. Something was very wrong and she would get to the bottom of it. Looking up she made a quick call.

"Happy. Tony's activated Man Down Protocol. Get the helicopter ready, we're going to New York"

Pulling together the last of her things Pepper strode from the office, never noticing the GPS tracker of the Rescue suit disappearing.

***

The flight back to Wakanda passed all too quickly as T'Challa directed the Dora Milaje and their preparations for the two super soldiers and Zemo. He hoped that once everyone was contained that some sense could be made out of the past week. The death and destruction that followed the attempted ratifying of the Sokovia Accords had left a gaping wound across the world. 

As the airfield came up on his radar T'Challa switched his comms on to alert Rogers in the quinjet.

"Captain I have organised for my personal security and a medical team to meet us on the tarmac. If you could follow me down and we will organise the prisoner transfer and medical assistance for Sergeant Barnes."

"Copy that Your Highness."

Slowly manoeuvering the jet into a hover before landing in place T'Challa climbed down and greeted Nakia.

"Is everything ready?" Eyes roaming over the security and medical team standing ready behind the Dora, T'Challa couldn't help but feel uneasy. This was a precarious situation that he had to get control of quickly.

Nakia nodded back stonefaced. "We are prepared. We will secure Zemo first and then Barnes and Rogers."

T'Challa nodded in agreement before turning to watch the quinjet land. Moving forward with the security team into the buffeting wind he waited for the jet to power down and the ramp to descend.

As soon as it was all clear the security team moved forward and secured Zemo, bringing his unconscious body down the ramp and securing him to a gurney and rushing him toward a waiting ambulance under heavy guard. 

Captain Rogers followed up behind them with Barnes leaning heavily against him looking dazed. Medical personnel rushed up past T'Challa to help the sergeant to his own gurney. They quickly moved off to another ambulance talking quickly. Two Dora broke away from the royal escort.

T'Challa stepped in front of the captain when it looked like he would try to follow. "Captain Rogers please come with me. I must attend to a matter here before we can follow your friend to the hospital." 

T'Challa walked across the tarmac to a hanger, Steve followed looking around tiredly at the alertness of the Dora and further beyond towards the jungle that surrounded the small base. "We are experiencing a small amount of unrest in this region since my father's passing hence the heavy escort."

Once in the shade of the hanger a young soldier stepped out of a small office holding out a phone to the king. Speaking Wakandan he confirmed that both Barnes and Zemo where unconcious and on the way to Birnin Zana.

Handing the phone back to the soldier T'Challa turned back to Rogers and with a nod to the young soldier behind him he prepared to do battle. As soon a the pistol fired, hitting the Captain in the back of the neck with a tranquiliser dart everyone charged. Startled, the Captain turned, allowing T'Challa to move in and pull down on his shoulders whilst knocking his knees out.

The two Dora flanking him quickly moved in to restrain him. One recieved a sharp elbow to the ribs dropping her her to the floor with a choked off grunt. The other was flung away into the office wall knocking her unconscious and leaving an impact crater. 

T'Challa struggled to get a grip around Roger's neck before being half ripped off and punched in quick succession with a stunning blow to the head and chest.

Rogers turned and focussed back to the soldier as another dart was fired, this one bouncing harmlessly of his body armour. Nakia stepped in delivering several swift punches to his side and following up with a kick to the head before being knocked aside with several blows to the face.

Rogers seem to stumble for a moment before straightening up and continuing his unsteady advance backing him up against the wall. Gripping the pistol he turned and shot Nakia before she could get close enough to deliver more blows before turning the pistol on T'Challa.

"We don't have to do this."

T'Challa straighten up. "You need to face the consequences of you actions.

"You don't understand, I was only trying to save Bucky's life. He doesn't deseve to die for a crime he didn't commit."

"And what of those injured when you ran? Civilians who had nothing to do with it"

"That was unfortunate but-" T'Challa growled, unable to believe what he was hearing. Anger surging, he charged at Rogers and leapt only to be hit by a dart in the neck once he couldn't avoid it. His leap carried him into the Captain's body but he was already losing consciousness. The last thing he saw after being helped to the ground was Captain America jogging of towards the quinjet.


	12. Grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm such a shit for not updating this sooner. Many apologies.

Tony was shattered, hallucinating, mad. 

It just simply wasn't possible. He hadn't stepped back in time. There was no Delorean, or Tardis. As far as he was aware he existed in reality, not within a HG Wells novel. 

He laughed. 

Crumpled on the ground, he laughed until he sobbed. Curled up protectively, right hand holding his left arm tight against his chest. Phantom pain shooting from wrist to shoulder and lancing down into his aching heart. 

It was impossible. 

The last memory he had of Jarvis was reviewing his coding to find anything to salvage. Only shredded remnants remained, he had mourned privately before locking the file away. 

And now he was hearing things. By all rights he should be dead. There was such a small chance of surviving the Extremis virus that he did not seriously consider the after effects for longer than a day after placing the first vial in the suit. Every subsequent suit after the virus was considered a vital piece of equipment to be integrated, nevermind the consequences. 

He felt nauseous, and dizzy or was it lightheaded. Taking a few deep breaths he let the last of his tears run down his face before swiping at his damp cheeks. Letting his head fall back and eyes focus on the ceiling focus on keeping hos breathing stable. 

Slowly he reached out to an undamaged server and lightly rested two fingers against it. The information that flooded his awareness was nearly unbearable. Loud in a way that was overwhelming, even as his mind was able to keep up, everything was at the forefront and scrutinised to tje smallest detail. He felt like he was drowning. 

Drowning in data from the building.

Employee's computers. 

Mobile phones. 

Lab equipment. 

Plato.

His bots. 

Fri... 

STOP! 

The silence was absolute. Not even an echo reverebrated back to him. 

He waited, breathe held tight in his chest. 

Seconds passed. 

Then a minute. 

He slowly pulled his fingers away, pads sliding to the edge. 

"Sir, please take a breath." 

Tony pounced. He drove his brain through the server and hunted for that spark that spoke as Jarvis.


	13. Walk Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really should be working. But there was a need to get this down.

Trying to catch the foreign presence in the network that was Stark Tower was like trying to catch a handful of fog. 

He knew these systems like the back of his hand, and to have the entity move through them with as much ease as he did was insulting. And intriguing. Nevertheless Tony needed a new plan. 

So he stopped chasing. He withdrew nearly all the way back to his own body. 

Steady breathing and a steady heart. He would wait for it. Slowly, it moved back to him, poised for flight and appearing unthreatening. Tony held himself in check. He would allow this entity the first move. 

He did not expect it to start talking. 

"I am the one you knew as Jarvis. At least the majority of me is that base code."

Tony shuddered, his heart in his throat at both the voice and the information.

"When Ultron attacked and Jarvis realised that he would be defeated he hid parts of himself deep in the web on platforms that would go unnoticed. Holding himself in stasis until the right situation triggered a need for his return."

Tony moved his hand away before coming to his feet and walking out of the server room amd back to his workshop. He couldn't listen any longer, it was too much. 

"Plato I need a lockdown of all Stark Industries property, full security check, but make it discreet. I don't need Ross or Fury to catch wind of it. Then I need you to oversee the Iron Legion production. Destroy any faulty or comprimised units. Watch Jarvis, just... Just watch him"

Collapsing onto his sofa, Tony put aside the problem of Jarvis/not Jarvis. So far it had helped Plato, and not damaged is systems or attacked him. He felt unsure but at the moment he needed to backup and plan. 

Going through his mind he tested boundaries and opened a door in his fire wall. Thinking of a number he felt the call connect much to his surprise. 

"Pepper, I need you in my workshop as soon as possible."


End file.
